78. From Rome he sees his young men of Turin, 1870.
--
In the first days of February 1870 Don Bosco wrote this letter from Rome to his students in Turin, a city many kilometers from Rome. It reads as follows: From Rome I have succeeded in seeing in a dream my dear pupils of Turin. In the vision I saw Father Cagliero surrounded by a great number of young people going to confession. I also saw many of them praying fervently and receiving the Holy Communion.
I also saw many of them thinking of Don Bosco and a good number of them visiting Jesus in the Sacrament in the Temple. And all this filled me with joy.
But I also saw something that filled me with bitterness and that would cause real horror to whoever would read it if I could commit it to paper. I will only say that next to many good young people I saw some who looked like pigs and who had this phrase of St. Paul written on them: "They are like asses or mules which, unless they are bridled, do not obey".
I also saw with great joy that many carried on their tongues a lily (of purity) or a rose (of charity). And they were very many. But in the midst of these consoling visions, I saw several young men carrying in their mouths a monstrous serpent that gave off a deadly poison and filthy saliva. I send separately to Father Rua the names of some of them. These bore on their foreheads the words of the apostle: "Evil friends corrupt good manners".
--
My beloved young people: let us remember that at the hour of death, we will only gather what we have cultivated in this life, the good or the bad.
Note: I am sending Father Rua a separate list of those whose tongue, according to the Holy Book, "is like an asp or poisonous serpent hidden in the grass".
I hope to travel from here on February 21 and to be arriving in Turin on the 25th. Rather than solemn receptions, the feast I want you to offer is to find you all in good health and observing very good conduct. The following Sunday we will celebrate the great feast of St. Francis de Sales. May each one celebrate this feast in the most pleasing way that I could wish: by making a Holy Communion. In comparison with this way of celebrating a feast, the other ways are worth less and of lesser importance. May God bless you all and grant that you may always persevere in doing good.
----
79. The death of a Salesian, 1870
On March 31, 1870, Don Bosco saw in a dream the Salesian Fr. Antonio Croserio, dressed in luxurious vestments, imparting the blessing. He began to think how it was possible that he was dressed to celebrate and send blessings, if he was sick in bed. And then he understood that this was a sign that he was already going to paradise.
The next day Father Croserio died a saintly death.